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“Yeah. Thanks for giving us some time.”
“Of course.” He leans down and kisses me. “You could’ve talked longer. I don’t mind waiting.”
We stop at the Jeep and I pause a moment to look at him. He’s smart, hot, athletic, and he cares about me. So why do I keep fighting this? Why do I keep coming up with reasons why we can’t be together? Why do I keep feeling like I want to run from him?
“Is something wrong?” he asks.
“No.” I get in the Jeep. He gives me a kiss before closing the door. I watch as he walks around to the driver’s side and gets in.
“Sometimes I still can’t believe I found you here,” Easton says as he drives out of the parking lot. “I spent all those years trying to find you and then there you were, at my table. We should come back here every year on the anniversary.” He reaches over for my hand and smiles at me. “What do you think?”
“Yeah. Definitely.” I force out a smile to hide the uneasy feeling that’s telling me this isn’t going to last, that we won’t be together next year. Why do I keep doing this, doubting us? Easton thinks we’ll be together in the future, so why can’t I?
We go to dinner, then go back to his house. I’m nervous as we walk to the door. I’m afraid to see Easton’s dad. What if he changed his mind and decided to kick me out?
“You want to watch a movie?” Easton asks as we go in his house.
“Maybe.” I nervously look around for his dad, but he’s not here. Maybe he’s still at work.
“Easton.” I hear his dad’s voice and feel like I’m going to be sick.
“Hey,” Easton says, standing straighter as his dad walks up to him. “What do you need?”
“I’d like to talk to you.” Stephen glances at me. “Alone.”
“I can’t right now. We’re going to a movie.”
“You just got home.”
“Yeah, and now we’re leaving.” Easton glances at me, giving me a look to go along with the movie excuse he just came up with to get us out of the house. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” I look back at his dad. “Hi, Mr. Voss. It’s nice to meet you.”
He just nods.
“That’s it?” Easton says to his dad. “You’re not even going to say hello?”
“We’ve already met,” he says, looking at me with a tight smile. “Penelope says you’ll be staying with us.”
“Not for long,” I rush to say. “I’m looking for a place.”
Penelope runs down the stairs. “Easton, you’re home.” She stops next to her husband. “I wanted to ask you two if you’re free tomorrow.”
“Maybe,” Easton says, hesitantly. “Why?”
“I thought we could all decorate the house for the holidays!” she says, sounding overly enthusiastic. I feel kind of bad for her. She’s trying really hard to make everyone happy and get rid of the tension in the house, but it’s not working. We’re all on edge, and decorating’s not going to help.
“I don’t know, Mom,” Easton says. “I don’t really feel like it.”
“Honey, c’mon. It’ll be fun! I’ll make a big pot of chili. We’ll make cookies. I’ll put out snacks.” She looks at me. “We usually do this the weekend after Thanksgiving, but we didn’t get around to it this year.”
I’m guessing that’s because of me. Easton wouldn’t help decorate because he was too busy looking for me. I ruined their family tradition, another reason his dad hates me.
“I think it sounds fun,” I say, trying to make Penelope feel like at least one person is excited about her idea.
“It’s afamilytradition,” Stephen says, making it clear I’m not family.
“But we’d be happy to have you help,” Penelope adds.
